Media Contact

Find us

Giving

Stay in Touch

Concentrations

NOTE: Many changes were made to the Sociology Course Offerings listed in the 2014-2016 Undergraduate Bulletin. To assist you with all these changes a complete listing of the new course designations, as well as the old course numbering, is available in pdf form at this link: New Courses/Old Numbering OR ReverseLookup--OldCourses/NewNumbers

S O C I A L J U S T I C E ( S J )*

Power, difference, and inequality are at the heart of sociological inquiry. The Social Justice concentration focuses on social structures that serve as mechanisms for the creation and perpetuation of social disparities, while also studying the many ways that groups and organizations seek to create a more socially just world. We interrogate the complicated ways that human behavior is shaped by both structure and agency through a variety of theoretical vantage points with an emphasis on race, ethnicity, socioeconomic class, gender, and sexuality. Courses address systemic inequalities both in U.S. domestic arenas as well as global and transnational dynamics, including issues of peace and war. Topics include education, democracy, citizenship, families, religion, global capitalism, urbanism, the environment and sustainable development, among others. We look at the role of social movements and community organizations in effecting social change. This concentration will be of interest to students planning careers in leadership, the non-profit sector, the labor movement, educational policy, human services/resources, public health, public administration, and business, as well as students pursuing graduate work or careers in law, education, public policy and related professional fields.

L A W, C R I M E, J U S T I C E ( L C J )*

The Law, Crime, Justice Concentration offers students a critical analysis of the relationship between law and society with a particular focus on legal institutions, public policy, crime, the criminal justice system and the production of social inequality. Courses in the concentration seek to reveal the origins and consequences of law by examining the various ways that law both shapes and is shaped by social and political forces. Various topics in the concentration include: the manifestations, causes, and consequences of criminal behavior; the relationship between law, social power, and persistent social inequalities; and the contested meanings of justice, rights and equality as they exist both inside and outside legal institutions.